lay – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of lay

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to lay hands on
Participle: laid hands on
Gerund: laying hands on

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

Ilay hands on
youlay hands on
he;she;itlays hands on
welay hands on
youlay hands on
theylay hands on

Perfect

Ihave laid hands on
youhave laid hands on
he;she;ithas laid hands on
wehave laid hands on
youhave laid hands on
theyhave laid hands on

Past

Ilaid hands on
youlaid hands on
he;she;itlaid hands on
welaid hands on
youlaid hands on
theylaid hands on

Pluperfect

Ihad laid hands on
youhad laid hands on
he;she;ithad laid hands on
wehad laid hands on
youhad laid hands on
theyhad laid hands on

Future

Iwill lay hands on
youwill lay hands on
he;she;itwill lay hands on
wewill lay hands on
youwill lay hands on
theywill lay hands on

Future Perfect

Iwill have laid hands on
youwill have laid hands on
he;she;itwill have laid hands on
wewill have laid hands on
youwill have laid hands on
theywill have laid hands on

Subjunctive

Present

Ilay hands on
youlay hands on
he;she;itlay hands on
welay hands on
youlay hands on
theylay hands on

Perfect

Ihave laid hands on
youhave laid hands on
he;she;ithave laid hands on
wehave laid hands on
youhave laid hands on
theyhave laid hands on

Imperfect

Ilaid hands on
youlaid hands on
he;she;itlaid hands on
welaid hands on
youlaid hands on
theylaid hands on

Pluperfect

Ihad laid hands on
youhad laid hands on
he;she;ithad laid hands on
wehad laid hands on
youhad laid hands on
theyhad laid hands on

Conditional

Present

Iwould lay hands on
youwould lay hands on
he;she;itwould lay hands on
wewould lay hands on
youwould lay hands on
theywould lay hands on

Perfect

Iwould have laid hands on
youwould have laid hands on
he;she;itwould have laid hands on
wewould have laid hands on
youwould have laid hands on
theywould have laid hands on

Imperative

youlay hands on
weLet's lay hands on
youlay hands on

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam laying hands on
youare laying hands on
he;she;itis laying hands on
weare laying hands on
youare laying hands on
theyare laying hands on

Perfect

Ihave been laying hands on
youhave been laying hands on
he;she;ithas been laying hands on
wehave been laying hands on
youhave been laying hands on
theyhave been laying hands on

Past

Iwas laying hands on
youwere laying hands on
he;she;itwas laying hands on
wewere laying hands on
youwere laying hands on
theywere laying hands on

Pluperfect

Ihad been laying hands on
youhad been laying hands on
he;she;ithad been laying hands on
wehad been laying hands on
youhad been laying hands on
theyhad been laying hands on

Future

Iwill be laying hands on
youwill be laying hands on
he;she;itwill be laying hands on
wewill be laying hands on
youwill be laying hands on
theywill be laying hands on

Future Perfect

Iwill have been laying hands on
youwill have been laying hands on
he;she;itwill have been laying hands on
wewill have been laying hands on
youwill have been laying hands on
theywill have been laying hands on

Conditional

Present

Iwould be laying hands on
youwould be laying hands on
he;she;itwould be laying hands on
wewould be laying hands on
youwould be laying hands on
theywould be laying hands on

Perfect

Iwould have been laying hands on
youwould have been laying hands on
he;she;itwould have been laying hands on
wewould have been laying hands on
youwould have been laying hands on
theywould have been laying hands on

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'lay'

againsay, appay, assay, belay, enlay, forelay, foresay, forlay, forsay, gainsay, inlay, interlay, lay, mislay, mispay, missay, outlay, outstay, overlay, overpay, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Verbs similar to 'lay'

bay, clay, day, fay, flay, gay, hay, lab, lag, lam,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

sexual intercourse
ball, bonk, fuck, make, screw, shag, copulate, copulate with, wap
place
put, set, deposit, locate, establish, fix, settle
appease
allay, calm, quiet, still, suppress
bet
gamble, wager, stake, risk

Antonyms

place
displace, misplace, eject, remove
appease
annoy, irritate, perturb, roil

Additional Information

Cf. Old English lecgan.

Etymology

1. O.E. lecgan "to place on the ground (or other surface)," also "put down (often by striking)," from P.Gmc. *lagjanan (cf. O.S. leggian, O.N. leggja, O.Fris. ledza, M.Du. legghan, Du. leggen, O.H.G. lecken, Ger. legen, Goth. lagjan "to lay, put, place"), causative of lie (2). Meaning "way in which something is laid" (lay of the land) first recorded 1819. Meaning "have sex with" first recorded 1934, in U.S. slang, from sense of "deposit" (which was in O.E., as in lay an egg, lay a bet, etc.), perhaps reinforced by to lie with, a frequent phrase in the Bible. The noun meaning "woman available for sexual intercourse" is attested from 1930, but there are suggestions of it in stage puns from as far back as 1767. Lay off "dismiss" (an employee) is from 1868; meaning "stop disturbing" is from 1908. To lay for (someone) "await a chance at revenge" is from 1494; lay low "stay inconspicuous" is from 1839. To lay (someone) low preserves the secondary O.E. sense. Layabout "habitual loafer" is attested from 1932. Layup, the basketball shot, is attested from 1948.
2. Inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan (“to lay”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie, recline”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”).
3. Cognate with Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lay; to lie”), West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Cimbrian leng (“to lay”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Limburgish lègke (“to lay”), Luxembourgish leeën (“to lay”), Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to lay”), Danish lægge (“to lay”), Faroese, Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk legga, legge, leggja, leggje (“to lay”), Swedish lägga (“to lay”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay”), Old French laier, laiier, laire (“to leave”), Albanian lag (“troop, band, war encampment”). See: Middle English 'leyen', Middle English 'leyen', Proto-Germanic '*lagjaną', Proto-Germanic '*ligjaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'lääse', Dutch 'leggen', German, old spelling 'legen', Luxembourgish 'leeën', Danish 'lægge', Icelandic 'leggja', Norwegian 'legge', Norwegian, nynorsk 'legga', Swedish 'lägga', Old French 'laier', Albanian 'lag'.

Verbs referencing "lay"

German, old spelling legen, German, Pennsylvania lege, Norwegian legge, Norwegian, nynorsk leggja, Low Saxon leggen, Scots Gaelic laigh, Danish lægge, Luxembourgish leeën, Old French laiier, Russian ложить, Old Irish dolugai, Proto-Slavic ložiti.

Sample Sentences

  • CHAPTER III The Husband and Father Mrs. Shelby had gone on her visit, and Eliza stood in the verandah, rather dejectedly looking after the retreating carriage, when a hand was laid on her shoulder. She turned, and a bright smile lighted up her fine eyes. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] with the same words printed upon them, were put into her hands; and she soon observed that they were similar to the ones pasted on the articles. ’ She showed her perception of this similarity by laying the label key upon the key, and the label spoon upon the spoon. She was encouraged here by the natural sign of approbation, patting on the head. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] of his own, from time to time, with a commendable seriousness and gravity, for which he was admired by the young and blessed by the old; and it was agreed, on all hands, that “ a minister couldn't lay it off better than he did; that ’ t was reely ’ mazin ’ ! ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] charity, which is not so commonly a characteristic of this form of address to the Deity as it might be. That done he opened his discourse, taking for his text a passage from the Song of Solomon, laid upon the desk before the commencement of the service by some unknown member of the congregation: ‘Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her beloved ! ’ (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] married and single, many of whom sleep upon the premises, and contract by the week for their board and lodging: the charge for which diminishes as they go nearer the sky to roost. A public table is laid in a very handsome hall for breakfast, and for dinner, and for supper. The party sitting down together to these meals will vary in number from one to two hundred: sometimes more. The advent of [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • In our private room the cloth could not, for any earthly consideration, have been laid for dinner without a huge glass dish of cranberries in the middle of the table; and breakfast would have been no breakfast unless the principal dish were a deformed beef-steak with a great flat bone [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] if any such thing should happen as that Mas’r Haley's horse _should_ begin to act contrary, and cut up, you and I jist lets go of our’n to help him, and _we'll help him_—oh yes ! ” And Sam and Andy laid their heads back on their shoulders, and broke into a low, immoderate laugh, snapping their fingers and flourishing their heels with exquisite delight. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • He laid down his paper, and went into the kitchen, and started, quite amazed at the sight that presented itself:—A young and slender woman, with garments torn and frozen, with one shoe gone, and the [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] started, quite amazed at the sight that presented itself:—A young and slender woman, with garments torn and frozen, with one shoe gone, and the stocking torn away from the cut and bleeding foot, was laid back in a deadly swoon upon two chairs. There was the impress of the despised race on her face, yet none could help feeling its mournful and pathetic beauty, while its stony sharpness, its cold, [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] fresh water, which is showered and jerked about, and turned on, and poured off, everywhere. The Waterworks, which are on a height near the city, are no less ornamental than useful, being tastefully laid out as a public garden, and kept in the best and neatest order. The river is dammed at this point, and forced by its own power into certain high tanks or reservoirs, whence the whole city, to the [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • and the pace of it. You can't duplicate that anywhere. And LA is much more laid back. (Faye)